Father Daughter Duo: The New Duo
by tiffini42112
Summary: Bay and Daryl are happy at the prison growing more in love with each other every day. But with her pregnancy now progressed what will happen when The Governor makes his epic return? When he strikes and the prison falls, will they get separated or manage to stick together? I stink at summaries. This is the continuation of my story Father Daughter Duo. So please read that one first.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Walking Dead, nor do I own any of it's characters portrayed in this story. I do not intend to get paid for my work. This story is simply me inserting my characters into the original storyline of the TV show. This is just a hobby of mine that keeps my mind off of the stressful things in life.

 **Father Daughter Duo: The New Duo**

 **Chapter 1-** The Calm Before The Storm.

"Hold on Bay it's almost here." Doctor Caleb said calmly from behind the sheet that had been draped across my parted knees. Daryl stood on one side of my hospital bed holding one of my hands and Uncle Seth the other. "Okay give me a good push." He said looking up at me and I nodded as I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and bore down with everything I had. "Keep pushing. Come on you're doing fine." He said and soon I had to relax. I looked up at Daryl trying to breathe through the pain like Doctor S. had taught me. Daryl just smiled at me and gave my hand a squeeze. "One more time, Bay." I started crying as I shook my head no and said that I couldn't. "Yes you can. Come on I know you can." He encouraged so I did as he asked and pushed again.

It felt like I pushed forever before the pressure down below subsided and I heard Merle say "Told ya it'd be a girl." I looked up to see him standing behind the doctor at the foot of my bed. So I mustered up enough energy to attempt to throw something at him before I felt my head slump against the pillow and the white ceiling tiles faded away.

* * *

I inhaled a deep breath as my eyes shot open. "What was it this time, a puppy or a kitten?" Daryl asked with a smirk on his face where he laid with his head propped up on his elbow.

I playfully rolled my eyes at him. "I had that dream one time and you won't let me live it down." He just lifted one eyebrow at me in response. "It was a girl." I said under my breath, but I knew he would hear me.

"Uh huh. So you think it will be a girl too." He said as he flung the covers off of himself and got out of bed.

"No, but you and Merle call it a girl so much that I almost can't even imagine how the two of you would react if I had a boy." I said before he turned to me and offered me a hand that I took so that I could sit up on the side of the queen sized mattress. "Thanks." I smiled at him before he kissed my head.

"Ya think of a name yet?" he asked and I shook my head. "Ya've had over seven and a half months to think and ya still don't have a name?" he asked for the millionth time and I rolled my eyes.

"I told you I don't wanna think about names until I see her-it." I corrected myself when he smirked at me.

"I think yer lyin'. I think you have names picked out and ya just don't wanna tell anyone." He slid his hands over my big belly as his lips pulled up into a smile making me laugh. He was right. I had thought about names and I did have some picked out. But I didn't want to tell anyone and have the names be judged and picked apart while we were waiting for the baby to make its grand appearance.

"You know what?" I asked and he hummed at me making me smile bigger. "I think your right." He laughed, something I had fallen in love with over the months the more he did it. "I would tell you if I knew you wouldn't tell Merle and then he would tell the whole world." He just shook his head from side to side before he grabbed his crossbow off of the small table that was sitting in the corner of our small room of the prison. "Are y'all goin' on a run today?" I asked and he turned to me as he threw the bow over his shoulder like I had seen him do a thousand times.

"Yeah. We're gettin' low on food, especially for Little Ass Kicker." I released a stressed breath and slid down off of the mattresses. He placed his hands on the thin fabric that was stretched to the max over my itching belly. "I'mma go get breakfast, ya comin'?" he asked as he rubbed my belly with his thumbs. I don't think he knew how much it soothed the taunt skin.

I nodded before I started waddling behind him. I was feeling really swollen, not just my stomach, but my feet and hands. I felt swollen all over. My morning sickness finally went away. When it disappeared my appetite came back and I found myself craving foods that I had forgotten even existed. Like yogurt, lemons and cheesecake. I never spoke about my carvings to people unless they asked. Uncle Seth asked pretty often then joked about me making him hungry and Daryl almost made it a game to ask me every night what food I had been craving that day. This was a good way for me to figure out that our food tastes were really different when it came to certain things. I loved cream cheese and pineapples where he couldn't stand either. He loved Reese's pieces and Taco Bell's soft tacos and I couldn't stand those.

Lucas never asked. To be completely honest after mine and Daryl's wedding Lucas never asked me anything that didn't have to do with my health. He was cold and dismissive. Every time I tried to be nice to him he would turn his nose up. He was hurt and I understood why, but it was no reason to treat me like I was the very embodiment of the plague. As soon as Doctor S. came along Lucas dropped me as a patient and never spoke to me again. It was easy now days to avoid someone. There were so many people gathered in the prison that they had spread to other cell blocks. Daryl and I had to relocate to a random empty room further inside the prison in order to get any kind of privacy.

Lucas was sitting at one of the picnic tables beside Uncle Seth when we walked outside. As soon as he saw us he got up and headed off to help pick walkers off of the fences. "Must be exhausting." I heard Daryl say to himself. "Avoiding ya like he does, stupid."

"Yeah, but he's a good doctor." Daryl cut his eyes over at me.

"Ya ever gonna say anything bad 'bout him?" he asked and I just shook my head not wanting to continue the conversation.

"Mornin' Daryl." The nice doctor chimed as we walked by. "Mornin' Bailey."

"Sup Doctor S.?" Daryl said as we walked past and I smiled and gave him a nod of my head.

"Morning Daryl." "Mornin' Daryl." "Hey Daryl." People yelled as we walked past and I laughed when Daryl gave me a look. He wasn't coping too well with the appreciation he was getting from the people he had brought in.

"Smells good." Daryl complimented Carol as we walked up to where she was handing out food.

"Just so you know, I liked you first." She said with a smile at him and a wink at me to let me know she was just kidding.

"Stop." He said with an awkward look at me before he looked back at her. "Ya know Rick brought in a lot of 'em too."

"Not recently. Give the strangers sanctuary, keeping people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love." She smiled at us, but he gave me a look that said he wished she would stop talking. I wanted to take his hand, but I knew it would only make him that much more tense. I had learned over the past six months that he didn't do well with being praised a lot. "I need you to see something." Carol turned to a young man that was fairly new to the prison, Patrick, and asked him to take over, which he eagerly did. I liked Patrick, I never saw him without a smile on his face. That's why I thought it was such a good idea for him to be hanging out with Carl, who was still acting more adult than kid. Daryl was about to walk off with Carol before Patrick stopped him.

"Uh…Mr. Dixon," The look on Daryl's face as he turned to Patrick suggested that he had no idea what the kid was going to say to him, but I did. "I just wanted to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday. I mean, it was a real treat, sir, and I'd be honored to shake your hand."

I snickered behind Daryl's back when he licked his fingers clean of the meat he had just been eating, slapped his hand into Patrick's and shook it. I tried to wipe my face clean of my smile when Daryl gave me a nod before he walked off to see whatever Carol wanted to show him. "Sup baby momma?" I sighed when I heard the raspy voice of Merle behind me.

"How many times have I asked you not to call me that?" I asked as I rolled my eyes and turned to face the rugged man.

"Not enough to keep me from doin' it." He answered as he walked around me and grabbed two bowls of food from Patrick. He handed one to me and we walked over to sit with Uncle Seth. "Still no idea when she's gonna get here?" he asked and I rolled my eyes again. He still insisted that the baby was going to be a girl.

"There's really no way to tell. I've also told you _that_ a million times." I said and Uncle Seth chimed in that it could be any day now. I didn't know if I wanted it to be anytime soon. Yes I wanted to see my baby, but I didn't want her to get here too soon. I didn't want there to be anything wrong with it.

Merle and Uncle Seth had gotten along pretty well, although I'm sure that if my uncle knew what my father and everyone else here knew, what Merle did to me, they wouldn't be sitting next to each other talking like they were best friends.

When I was done eating I found Daryl around the side of the building getting things together for the run. "Ya shouldn't 'a walked all the way out here." He said with a caring tone that I had grown to love.

"I'm fine, I like the exercise. It's not good for me to stay inside all day caring for Judith." He didn't say anything else as he shook a gas can to see how much was in it. Zach, a guy that had been with us for a while walked around the truck and put his gun into the back. I smiled when Zach walked up to Beth and kissed her. It was nice to see couple's forming around here.

"It's like a damn romance novel." Daryl scoffed as Beth walked away from Zach without saying goodbye. Daryl looked over at me when I laughed at him. "What?"

"You say that like we're not part of one yourself." I answered as I slid between him and the truck and grabbed his hands. Pink rushed to his cheeks making me smile. I loved that I could still make him blush with the simplest of actions. "Ya know, Carol might have liked you first, but I loved you first." He squeezed my hands and gave me a smile that he tried to hide from the people that weren't far away.

"Love ya too." I couldn't help but smile at how quiet he said it. He used to have no problem showing affection toward me, but all the new faces around here brought out an even more shy side of Daryl.

"Good, because I lied. My feet are killing me. I just wanted to come tell you I love you and to be safe." I said with a smile that he returned with a shake of his head. He was about to climb onto his bike when he turned and started looking around as if he forgot something. "What did you forget?" I asked looking around myself.

"This." As soon as my eyes landed back on him his lips met mine letting me know through that one act how much me truly loved me. All too soon his lips left mine and he straddled his motorcycle. "Ya take care of yerself. Stay off yer feet, stubborn woman." I just shook my head and smiled as he rode off down the dirt road.

I was sitting in the holding room of cell block C watching after Judith when Rick came in. "How's my girl doin'?" he asked as he picked her up and kissed her head. I was glad that he could still be a father to her and Carl after everything that had happened. Rick was living proof that you could come back from horrible things. I just smiled as an answer when he turned to me. "I'm goin' to check the traps. Do you mind looking after her until I get back?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Do I ever?" I asked good heartedly and he smiled at me. "She's such a good little girl. How could anyone not want to spend time with her?" I asked as he handed her over to me.

"Well I won't be long, and I'll take her off your hands when I get back." He answered before he gave his daughter a pat on the back and headed to the door. The holding room was quiet like it usually was during this time of day. Most everyone around here had a job to do. Beth and Karen along with a bunch of other people cleared the fence, Merle and Daryl were almost always out in the woods killing some kind of fresh meat for everyone to eat or going on runs to find supplies that we were getting low on.

I bounced the little girl on my lap where I sat on the stool of the one tables that had been left in the room. She seemed a bit fussy so I began to sing. *If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride we'd see the day when nobody died. And I'm singin' hey, hey man I..I'm alive.* I sang to the baby as I bounced her on my lap and she giggled at me.

"You know," I jumped at the unexpected voice of Lucas and turned to the door where he was standing "we do need to swallow our pride. The world would be a lot better off if people did that." I pulled myself up and walked over to set Judith in her play pin. This was the first time he had said more than one word to me since Doctor S. came along. "I need to swallow my pride and accept that you're never going to love me."

"I do love you." I interrupted him.

He sighed and put his hand on his hip. "Not the way I want you to. You love Daryl, I get that. I don't like it, but I get it and he loves you too." I crossed my arms over my chest when his eyes landed on my stomach. "I promised you that I would take care of you. That I would make sure that baby got here safe." He wasn't looking at me while he was talking. He was absentmindedly wiping at some dust that had settled on the table and it was making me kinda mad.

"Yeah you did." I stated letting my aggravation at him fill my tone. "And you haven't spoken to me in two months."

"I know, but I thought it was what was best. I thought I needed to just give the two of you space. I didn't think your _hubby_ would like me hanging around you." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he looked at me and continued talking. "I haven't been keeping my promise to you. I get it if you want to keep seeing Doctor S. It's not good to keep switching between doctors at this point in your pregnancy. You need one doctor looking over you, consistency. But if something happens, God forbid, then I'll take care of you." He touched my shoulder in his doctor-ly manner for a second before he let his hand drop and gave me a small smile. "I'm sorry for being a class A prick."

"That, you were," I said with a sarcastic, but sincere smile. "but you're forgiven." I sat down now that he was done talking and picked up my knitting as he left the room. I had been sitting there for a while before I saw kids and parents start coming inside and head down the hall to the library. "Come on Ass Kicker," I said as I picked her up from the play pin and settled her on my hip. Merle and Daryl had expressed their concern about me lifting her so often, but both Hershel and Doctor S. said that it was fine as long as I felt comfortable with it.

Carol also expressed her concern for me when I walked into the library with Judith and sat her in a second play pin in the corner of the room. I told Carol that I was fine and that I would have her carry her back to the holding room if I didn't feel like I could do it. Carol read from a random book until the parents left the room. When the door was shut the little curly haired boy went and took watch. Carol set the book aside and got the knives out of the box that she had been sitting on.

I didn't agree with her teaching the kids how to use weapons behind their parents back, but I also thought that these kids needed to be able to protect themselves if the random occasion ever occurred. I felt a little bad keeping the secret with her, but I didn't feel like it was my responsibility to tell the parents what she was doing. They weren't my kids and I wasn't the one telling them to use knives. Besides, things had been kind of peaceful around here other than the occasional problem that the walkers caused and I didn't want to be responsible for disrupting that. Sometimes we would actually read a book instead of doing the weapon lessons and that was where I came in. I liked teaching the kids something other than how to kill and doing something normal for a change. Every kid has to suffer through schooling of some kind, right?

I picked up the book that Carol had sat down and started reading to myself not paying attention to her or the kids until Patrick spoke up saying that he wasn't feeling well. "Sometimes you're gonna have to fight through it. What if you wind up out there alone, you just gonna give up because you're feeling bad?" I almost laughed when he said that he just didn't want to yack on somebody and the other children moved away. My eyes caught Carl peeking over a shelf at us before Carol's did. "Please don't tell your father." Carol pleaded lightly before Carl gave us a disappointed look and ran from the room.

"Carol," I said getting her attention and she turned to look at me "Maybe we should stop this. It doesn't feel right keeping this from their parents." I said as I bounced Ass Kicker on my knee.

"No." "We like knife lessons." Please don't stop teaching us." The kids each spoke up and Carol gave me a I told you so look. I didn't feel comfortable being in the library anymore so I picked up Judith and sat her on my hip.

"Are you gonna tell Rick?" she asked and I just shook my head. I still didn't feel like it was my place to say something. I had only found out about it by accident to begin with. I was the reason she had Luke, the curly headed little boy, to stand watch now. "You can leave Judy here if you want to." She suggested timidly, but for some reason I didn't feel comfortable leaving the baby with her.

"No, I told Rick I would watch her so I think I should be the one watching her when he gets back." I answered as honestly as I could then I headed to mine and Daryl's room because it was closer than the holding room.

I was still in there when Rick found me and told me that Daryl was back. So I handed the precious baby off to him and went to find Daryl in D block where Rick told me he had last seen him. I hated how eerily dark it got in the prison at this time of night, but that was pushed out of my mind when I walked into the cell block and saw Beth's arms around an uncomfortable looking Daryl. "Me too." His echoed whisper hit my ears as I slipped back around the wall out of sight.

My feet were starting to hurt so I sat down in the holding room and waited for him to come out. I looked up at him when I heard his light footsteps headed my way. I knew something had happened out there as soon as I saw his gloomy expression. "Oh…lord. What happened?" I asked as I stood up and took his hand.

He shook his head making his sweaty hair sway. "Zach." I sighed knowing now why Beth was hugging Daryl.

"How?" I sighed as he sat down next to me at the table.

"There was a helicopter crashed on the roof of the big spot. It made it rot. We didn't know it until walkers started raining down on us." He stopped talking when I sucked in a sharp breath.

"Please tell me everyone else made it out okay." My hands sat idly on my stomach and I didn't look away from them for fear of seeing his sad face.

"Yeah, we're all okay."

"What about Beth?" I asked finally looking up from my hands to see his blank face.

"I don't know. It looked like she took it well, but I'm worried about her. She didn't even cry." I just looked at him. When he had told me about Zach, I assumed Beth had been crying on his shoulder. But if she didn't cry then why exactly was she hugging him? When I didn't say anything back he assumed it was because it was late and I was tired.

He was right, I was tired, but that wasn't why I was being quiet. I couldn't get the image of Beth's arms wrapped around Daryl's waist out of my head. I wasn't jealous, I just didn't understand, because the only other person I had ever seen hug Daryl, and him give them a stiff hug back, was Carol.

From there we walked hand in hand to our room, showered then went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** See chapter one.

 **Father Daughter Duo: The New Duo**

 **Chapter 2** \- Step one of decomposition.

The next morning things got bad fast. I woke up to people screaming in the cell block that our room was close to. "Stay here and don't open that door for anyone." Next thing I knew Daryl had grabbed his bow and ran out the door toward the yelling and screaming.

I did as I was asked and stayed in our room until Daryl came back, hours later. "Bay, it's me, don't open the door." He sighed when I asked why. "Ev-Everyone that was in D is either dead or… sick." I didn't understand. How could they all be dead, and what did he mean they were sick? I didn't have the words to say anything back to him. "Doctor S. says that it is some kind of flu. It killed them before they even knew it was serious." He stopped talking; giving me time to absorb what he was telling me.

"Daryl…I… I don't know what to say." I pressed my hand to the door, wishing I could see his face. "Are you sick? I know Patrick was sick yesterday and you shook his hand." I asked him and I heard him sigh yet again on the other side. "Daryl, please open the door. I need to see you."

"I'm sorry Bay, I can't. I've been exposed and I can't risk…I can't risk losing you." I could tell that he was having trouble telling me no. I'm sure he wanted to see me too, but it was too dangerous.

"Okay, I…I understand." I was trying to keep my nerves under control, but that's easier said than done. "I love you and please try to stay safe."

"I love ya too Bay." He said and I could hear his footsteps walking away.

I sat in that cell until night fall when Daryl came back and knocked on the door letting me know it was him. "I'm sleepin' in our old cell tonight. Seth is gonna spend the night with ya. Lucas wanted to, but he has to help doc. S. with the sick people."

"Thank you." I said, grateful that I wouldn't be in here alone. "How are you feeling?" I asked him only to get a sigh from the other side. "Daryl, please answer me."

"I'm fine, promise. What about you?" he asked.

"Same old, same old." I answered as I pressed my hand to the door wishing I could touch him. "I just wish you could be in here with me tonight."

"Yeah, me too." She said with a sigh. "It's late. I'll get going so you and Seth can get some sleep. Goodnight and I love ya."

"Love ya too Daryl. Goodnight." I said as I pressed my forehead to the door and he knocked once letting me know he heard me before I heard his footsteps as he walked away.

A few minutes later Uncle Seth knocked on the door and I let him in. "How you holdin' up Tot?" he asked as he laid his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"I'm fine. It's everyone else that I'm worried about. How are things really looking out there? Daryl hasn't told me much." I asked.

"Well, a lot of people are sick, but we're handling it." He said with a sigh as she sat down on the chair across from the bed that I was sitting on. "I haven't been near any of the sick. If I had I wouldn't be in here around you." He cleared things up with his hands raised defensively in front of him.

 **A/N:** Sorry that this chapter is so short. Wasn't much I could do with a pregnant woman in this part of the show.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** See chapter one.

 **Father Daughter Duo: The New Duo**

 **Chapter 3-** Step Two of Decomposition.

Clean up after things calmed down was going fine. Daryl had come back with the meds that we needed and gotten them to people in the nick of time so I hear. I wasn't there for any of it. I was locked away with Beth and Little Ass Kicker. We passed the time by singing to Little Ass Kicker and the little one in my stomach. In all reality, we should have been worrying about the people on the other side of the door that Beth leaned against most of the time we were in there. But if we were to start worrying, that would put unneeded stress on my body and Little Ass Kicker would have picked up on it and cried. A crying baby would have made the extended stay in an uncomfortable room even more dreadful.

But eventually the door to our room opened and I saw Daryl on the other side. I had no control over my feet as I ran to him and threw my arms around his shoulders. "I missed you so much." I breathed into his neck where I pressed my face. I was so worried about him. While I was locked away he'd said he was doing fine, that he wasn't sick, but I just had a feeling that he was lying to me. It was clear to me now though, that he didn't have a fever and he looked just a healthy as before we spent what felt like forever apart.

But that was a day ago and now I was watching the kids while everyone else did some cleaning up from all the chaos that had been our lives for the past few days. Now days, everyone but Little Ass Kicker took care of themselves. Other than the occasional question like "where are the crayons?" and "Mrs. Dixon, how do you help me pronounce this word?" watching the kids was easy.

That was until we felt the entire building shake. The kids looked up at me with shocked questioning eyes. I didn't know if I should head outside and see what was happening or stay inside and protect the kids in case the worse of the worse happened. It wasn't long after the blast that Merle swung the door open and pulled me out into the hallway. "Merle, what the hell's goin' on out there? I heard a blast. Is Daryl okay?" I asked in a rush while he dragged me far enough down the hall for the kids to not be able to hear what he had to say.

"Daryl is fine. Calm down." He rested his hands on my shoulder as he looked into my eyes reassuringly.

"Merle, what's happening?" I asked again, calmly this time.

"The Governor's back." My heart sank at his statement. "We have to get you and he kids to the bus, in case things head south."

I was shaking with unshed tears in my eyes. I knew this day would eventually come, the day when someone or something would come to this place and try to take it down. I just didn't think it would be The Governor after he had been gone for so long. I knew we had to save as many people as possible, because the governor wouldn't go without a fight. So I looked up at Merle with watery eyes and took his hands from my shoulders to head back to the library of kids.

"Lizzy, Mica, you girls put Judy in her carrier and follow us. You other kids stay close behind. We're heading for the bus." I instructed. The kids just looked up at me with questioning eyes, not being used to being bossed around by me. "Do what I said. It's just like the drill okay?" I said as I got the kids up and to the door. We ushered them down the hall till we came to the door that led outside. We could hear gunshots and I looked at Merle. He could tell that I was thinking about Daryl and if he was okay out there. "It's gonna be okay." He assured me.

I took a deep breath and gave him a nod before turned to the kids. "There's shooting going on out there, so stay as low to the ground as possible and stay close." They all gave me nods and I turned to Merle with a nod and he gave me a gun before he threw the door open and we rushed out. It surprised me when he threw his arm around my shoulders and shielded me as we rushed to the bus. I sat down in one of the front seats with a heavy thump.

"I'm gonna go find Daryl. We'll meet you here when we can." He assured me before he ran off.

The kids weren't in the bus and I looked out to see them still standing at the door we had run out from. Lizzy was saying something to them, still with Little Ass Kicker in their hands. Lizzy dropped Little Ass Kicker and ran over to where the gun bins were at and grabbed a gun for each of them. I got up to go for them, but a shot zipped by my head and I had to duck back into the bus. I had an internal debate of rather to save them and put myself and my baby as risk, or stay in the bus and protect my child. It was a hard decision, but I had to protect myself and my child.

So I moved to sit back down in the seat. My hands shook as I placed them on my huge belly. "We are gonna make it Peach, I promise." I whispered to the baby inside and felt a ripple of movement that I took as an answer. I stood in my seat and looked around when I heard the clanking of metal. The tank was running over the fences. Beth stuck her head in and asked me where Judith was so I told her where I had last seen her. I didn't know what to do, it didn't feel right just sitting there while all hell was breaking loose around me. But I couldn't leave and risk getting myself hurt.

It wasn't much later that other people started getting on the bus. Most of them were the ones from the cellblock of sick people. Maggie and Glenn entered in a rush. "Bay, you're here, thank God. Where's Beth?" Maggie asked, panicking.

"She went to find Judith." I answered. "She went that way."

"We'll find her. She'll be okay." Glenn tried to follow Maggie, but she wouldn't let him and she ran off leaving Glenn behind.

"Glenn, she's right. You're still too weak." I tried to say, but he ran off without listening to me. "Glenn!" I yelled trying to get him to listen to reason, but he just kept running. I stood and watched hoping to see Daryl, but I couldn't.

"That's it; we're getting out of here." I heard someone say as the bus cranked up.

I turned to see a woman who I had never spoken too much, sitting in the driver's seat. "No, not without Daryl." I yelled as I got up and opened the door that she had shut.

"We're going." She said as she stomped on the gas, but I hit the air breaks.

"We're not going anywhere." I argued and she hit my hand away and closed the door, but I opened it back up.

"You can get off if you want, but I'm going." She stomped on the gas, slinging me backwards. I stumbled down the steps and fell out of the door to land on my back on the pavement. The breath was knocked out of me and I couldn't move, but I was sure the baby was fine. A bullet zipped by my head as I turned onto my hands and knees and scrambled to hide behind a planter box that sat along one side of a gazebo.

"No!" I heard a raspy, panicked yell and looked up over the planter box to see Merle staring after the buss that was headed down the dirt road. "God fucking damn it!" he yelled at the top of his lungs before turning to a walker that was stumbling his way. He stabbed it in the head with the contraption on his arm.

"Merle!" I yelled getting his attention. He ran around the gazebo and lifted me up.

"Why the hell weren't you on that bus?" he asked with a mix of relief and anger in his voice.

"I couldn't leave without Daryl." I explained and he hugged me tight. I would have clawed and pushed away from him under any other circumstances. "Where is he?" I asked as he let me go.

"I don't know. I haven't seen 'em." He said with a shake of his head and I sighed in frustration. "We gotta get you out of here." He grabbed my hand and started leading me away towards the back of the prison. I was running behind him because walkers were on our tail. I hadn't ran in a while and it was causing my back to start hurting. On top of that I was having a hard time breathing.

"Merle." I said and he didn't respond. "Merle, where are we going?" I panted and he didn't look at me when he answered.

"I stashed a truck back here forever ago. We're getting out of here." I didn't argue. How could I? There were walkers at our back and even a few headed towards us from the front. Looking for Daryl would be impossible. I shot a few of the walkers that were in front of us and Merle did the same. We ran a few more feet then came upon a truck that was covered with vines and sticks. Some had been put there by Merle, other's had grown there naturally. "Cover me while I get it clear." He ordered and I took guard at the front of truck. I shot two walkers from the front and three from the back before Merle yelled at me again. "Get inside."

I did as instructed and slid in from the driver's side door that he was holding open. He started trying to crank the truck, but it wouldn't turn over. "God damn it." He cursed as he threw his door open and ran around to the front of the truck hitting a very rotten walker in the face with the butt of his gun along the way. He threw the hood open long enough to quickly jimmy the battery cables. He then quickly shot another walker, slammed the hood closed then got back in the truck.

He turned the key and it purred to life. "Oh thank God." I let my head fall forward with a grateful sigh. He put the truck in gear and took off.

"Im'ma circle the place, see if we can find 'em. If he's nowhere to be seen I'm taking off." He said without looking at me.

I hated this. Being without Daryl and stuck with Merle on top of that, it was killing me. Hopeful that we would find Daryl, I held my pending tears back. As we were driving around the front part of the prison, Lucas ran up to us waving his arms. "Merle stop!" I yelled and thankfully he did. Lucas hopped into the bed of the truck and I opened the back sliding window that was behind me. "Uncle Seth?" I asked and he just shook his head. "What about Daryl? Have you seen him?" I asked in a rush.

"No, I haven't seen him." He answered as he kicked a walker off of the truck. "There's no one left in there. Go!" he yelled and Merle obliged by stepping hard on the gas.

I hit the dashboard hard with my fist in both anger and the need to brace myself against Merle's driving. As I did I let an aggravated growl leave my mouth. "He's not dead." I looked at Merle like he was stupid.

"I know that." I answered in almost a whisper, making him finally look at me. In that moment another pain shot through my back. A sound of discomfort left my closed mouth.

"You okay?" he asked receiving a glare from me. Of course I wasn't ok. My husband was missing and my uncle, the only blood family I had left, was dead. "I meant physically." He clarified as I leaned forward to grip my back as another dull pain shot through it.

"My back hurts. I think runnin' aggravated it." I answered with my discomfort plain on my face.

Merle, while looking at the road, banged on the back glass to get Lucas's attention. He opened it up and peered into the cab with a careworn face. "Tell 'em what you told me." Merle demanded and I sighed.

"I'm fine." I said being stubborn. Merle looked at me with a hard face and I rolled my eyes. "My back started hurting when I was running and now pain keeps shooting through it."

"Is it getting worse?" Lucas asked and I nodded. "How far apart are the pains?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes, with dull ones in-between." I answered to the best of my ability.

"Has your water broken?" he asked.

"No."

"There's no wetness at all? Does it feel like you're on your period or even just like you're sweating down there?" he asked.

"Oh, gross man." Merle grumbled, but we ignored him.

"No, nothing." I answered with a shake of my head.

"Good." He sighed and let his head fall forward in relief. "We still have time."

"Time for what?" Merle and I asked at the same time. If I were thinking straight I would have known the answer.

"Time to find a safe place to have a baby." He answered and Merle stomped on the gas even harder. "You're going to meet your child soon." Lucas informed me with a mix of panic and pride.

I felt like my heart had stopped. I was going into labor and Daryl wasn't here. My husband was going to miss the birth of his baby. "This can't be happening." I didn't realize I had said it out loud until Merle replied with something I didn't pay attention to.

I was thrown against the door when Merle suddenly took a left turn onto a small paved road. "Where are you going?" Lucas asked Merle, but we were answered when he stopped in front of a white two story house. It would have been considered nice two or three years ago, but now it just looked like a decent place to hold up for the night.

"This place is safe. Me and Michonne stumbled across it when we were governor hunting. It's got a few days worth of food. Or at least it did when we left it." He explained.

"Good. Bay, stay here while we make sure it's safe." Lucas said before he jumped out of the truck bed and Merle got out and followed him.

Another pain shot through my back and snaked it's way around my side. I placed my hands on my stomach and did the only thing I could think to do that would calm me down. I started singing a random song. But I stopped when I felt something down there pop and a little bit of warm liquid seeped into my pants. "Oh…no…" I started to panic and wanted to call out for them, but I knew that was a bad idea. So I waited patiently all the while more and more liquid spilled out and soaked my jeans. Soon merle came out and rushed over to open the passenger door. When I looked up at him I noticed his gaze was on my lap. "My water broke." I felt numb as his eyes met mine.

"Okay…uh, can ya walk?" he asked with a scratch of his head before I noticed Lucas wasn't out here with him.

"Yeah, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to." I answered as I slid down out of the truck with one hand on my globe of a belly and the other on Merle's shoulder. Once I was out and steady on my feet Merle placed one hand on my lower back and the other on my shoulder as he helped me waddle to the house and up the porch steps. White paint chipped off of them with the weight of my feet. "Where's Lucas?" I asked as we entered the house and I looked around. Ten feet across from us where we stood in the entryway sat a set of long stairs. To the right was an archway that led to the dark living room, furnished in brown and blue and to the left was the large kitchen.

"He's upstairs getting' a room ready for ya." He answered.

As I looked at the staircase it seemed to grow longer and longer. "Uh…upstairs?" I asked, my voice reflecting how strained I was just from walking up the porch steps. I looked from the stairs to him. "I don't think I-" in a sudden whoosh I was lifted up into Merle's arms and he started walking me gently up to my room.

He walked a short distance down the hallway before entering the only open door to set me on a bed that was only covered by a fitted sheet. "Hey Doc. L, you might want to hurry up whatever yer doin' over there." With Merle's words I looked to Lucas to see him placing a bowl, hand soap and a bottle of water on the dresser that stood against the wall across from the foot of the bed.

"Why?" he asked as he turned while drying his hands.

"Her water broke." Merle answered before I could and pointed to my stained jeans.

"Oh, well, it looks like it's time to get those off of you then." Up until this point I had been comfortably numb, but the mention of me taking my pants off set off alarm bells in my head. I'm pregnant, of course I understood that someone would be watching a baby come out of my downstairs, but I didn't think it would be Lucas. Hell I didn't think Merle would be anywhere near me when the baby decided to come. I thought it would be Doctor S. down at my feet and Uncle Seth and Daryl up at my head where they couldn't see anything. I thought the person delivering my baby would be someone that I'd only known for a little while. I didn't think it would be the man that I had known every since I could remember assisted by the person that put me in this position to begin with.

"What? No." I answered in a rush as I scooted back to sit up straighter. I was finally panicking like I should have been all along.

"Bay, you can't have a baby with your pants on." Lucas kneeled down by the bed and calmly reasoned with me, but my eyes instantly found Merle where he stood by the still open door.

I opened my mouth to tell him to get out, but I didn't have to. He was already leaving. I didn't realize it, but I had started hyperventilating. "This isn't how this was supposed to go. You weren't supposed to be the one delivering this baby. Doctor S. or Hershel, but not you. You were supposed to be outside waiting. Just Uncle Seth and Daryl and whoever was delivering the baby, that's it. No one else was supposed to me in the room with me. Not here, not you and defiantly not him." I pointed at Merle as tears started to slid down my face. Lucas rested a hand on my shoulder and wiped a tear away with his other. "Daryl was supposed to be-" an intense pain that was worse than the others shot through my lower back and abdomen. I slammed my hands into the bed and gripped the sheets as I stifled the urge to cry out.

Lucas rubbed my back until the pain faded. "I know, Daryl was supposed to be here for the birth. A father should get to see his child come into the world, but he's not. And I know that sucks, but at least the baby's uncle is here." He said with a look in the direction of the door Merle had disappeared out of. He was trying to be encouraging, but he was failing miserably. "He can witness it and tell Daryl all about it when we find him." He lectured as he got up and grabbed some towels off of the dresser across from the foot of the bed. He sat them at my feet before he walked back over to stand next to me and grabbed my hand. "But right now I need you to focus on getting this baby here safely." He looked into my eyes and gave my hand a squeeze. "Do you think you can do that for me?" he asked and I nodded. "Then let's get those pants off." He walked to stand at the foot of the bed while I unbuttoned my maternity pants and lifted my butt so that he could tug them down. I felt exposed, but it helped when he tossed a sheet over my spread knees. A second later another pain shot out. I gripped the sheet in my fist, clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut. "Okay, we're looking good so far." Lucas said as he put the sheet down and patted my knee. "You can relax for a bit, we're in for a long night."

"She's not coming now, like right now?" I asked and he smiled down at me.

"No. your contractions aren't too strong and they're still too far apart. We should have plenty of time to get some rest before the real work begins." He explained before he walked out.

I rested my head against the wooden headboard with a sigh and placed my hands on my stomach. "Where are you Daryl?" I whispered with a look up at the ceiling. I jerked my head up when I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" Merle asked and I adjusted the sheet to make sure I was completely covered before I nodded. "You should try to get some sleep." He suggested as he handed me a bottle of water and moved to sit in a fluffy armchair that sat against the wall to my right.

"Yeah right." I scoffed. It was quiet for a long while before I hissed in pain and I fisted the sheet on the bed. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my teeth, once again trying not to make too much noise. When I opened my eyes Merle was no longer in his chair, but stood halfway between it and the bed. The look on his face suggested that he was having an internal debate. Did he actually want to comfort me? He scratched his head and sighed as he sat back down in the chair. "What do you think Daryl would be doin' if he was here?" I asked making him look up from his feet to me.

"I ain't got a damn clue." He answered in bewilderment. "Probably be sitting next to ya holdin' your hand er somethin'."

I just nodded numbly at his answer. "Lucas is probably-" another pain shot out cutting me off. I did as I did before and fisted the sheets and squeezed my eyes shut.

I didn't open them when I felt a callused hand remove my hand from the sheet and hold it. I squeezed it as tight as I could until the pain subsided. Even after it subsided I didn't let go and I didn't open my eyes. _"What the hell is happening?"_ I asked myself while breathing slowly and deeply. I knew it was Merle's hand I was holding and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't let go and I couldn't make myself look at him.

It felt like forever before I made myself open my eyes and look at our hands. A pain shot through my chest at the sight. Another pain shot through my chest when my eyes drifted and met Merle's. "Why?" the question left my lips without my consent. It was a simple question, only one word, but behind it were many more complicated questions beginning with the same word. Why did you do this to me? Why did you come back? Why did you have to turn into a good guy? Why are you here with me instead of Daryl? But I guess what he thought I was asking was why did he just take my hand.

"I figured you could take yer pain out on me." once again, a simple sentence with so much more hidden within it. "I hurt'cha, only seems fair for ya to hurt me."

"Um," I said as I took my hand from his and cleared my throat. "So I was saying that Lucas is probably gonna need you well rested too." I looked down at my feet as I spoke. "You should go get some sleep. I'll call when things start getting worse."

"Ya sure?" he asked as I heard him get up and got to the door. I nodded and he left. The sun was still up then, but I actually ended up drifting off into a restless sleep and when I woke up the room was dark and the pain was twice as bad as what I was feeling before. I was about to call out for help when both Merle and Lucas came into the room. Lucas lit the lantern that sat on the night stand then one on a small table that he place near the foot of the bed.

I had been fisting the sheets again when Merle sat down on the bed beside me and took one of my hands. I ignored him and focused on Lucas instead. "Okay, it's crowning, time to push momma." He said with a smile from where he was peering under the sheet that still blocked everything from Merle's view. I did as Lucas instructed and pushed. The pressure down below was incredibly intense, worse than I ever dreamed, and I gritted my teeth as I pushed. "Okay, okay, okay. Take a breather." Luke said with a smile that he flashed Merle and me. "Push again when you feel ready. You're doing fine." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I tucked my chin into my chest and pushed. What I felt can't be described in words, giving birth. It's just the weirdest, most painful feeling ever. "Okay, breath." Lucas instructed and I realized then that I had been squeezing the crap out of Merle's hand, but I didn't let go.

Instead I looked up at Merle to see him staring down at me with watery eyes. "Yer doin' good." He whispered and I couldn't help the small smile that graced my lips.

"Okay, Bay, one more good push and I think you'll be done." I looked back at him and nodded. This time, anxious to meet my baby, I bore down with everything in me.

It felt like I pushed forever before the pressure down below subsided and I heard Merle say "Told ya it'd be a girl." A strange sense of déjà-vou seeped into me. I was going to tell him to shut up, but that 's when I heard a smack, and a cry. My eyes landed on my baby, naked and spotted with white residue as Lucas wrapped her in a soft towel and placed her in my arms.

Tears started falling down my face as I stared into a set of little blue eyes. "Do you have a name for her?" Lucas asked.

I didn't look up from the beautiful bundle in my arms to answer. "Gertrude Kelly Dixon." I answered. I heard Lucas laugh and I looked up to see Merle glaring at him.

"Gertrud was my mother's name." he said flatly and Lucas literally wiped the smile off of his face.

"Oh, so Gertrude after Daryl's mom, Kelly after yours. I get it." He said with a shrug and a smile at me.

"Or Kelly Gertrude. I never decided on an order and Daryl and I never discussed it." I admitted before I looked back down to the quiet baby in my arms.

"I would go with Kelly first if I was you." Merle said and I looked at him with questioning eyes. "Momma hated her name." I smiled to myself and just looked back down at the baby. "So what would you have named her if she were a boy?" he asked.

"I never decided on that. It was a tossup between Daryl Dixon Jr. and Norman Sean." I explained. "But I'm happy with little Gerdi." I smiled down at the baby who was sleeping in my arms.

"She looks like a Gerdi." Lucas said as he walked over and brushed his finger over the baby's cheek. "I'm guessing that Norman was your father's name?" Lucas asked and Merle nodded.

"Yep." Merle drawled the word out and he sat down in the chair in the corner and propped his feet up on a small stool. "I could've told ya it'd be a girl. Dixon's always have girls first."

Hearing him say this reminded me that I never learned the story behind if Daryl and Merle had a sister or not. The baby woke up and started fussing. So I looked to Lucas for help. "She's probably hungry." He explained and I looked to Merle with wide eyes.

"I'm goin'." He said as he got up and walked out, leaving me alone with Lucas for the first time since the shit hit the fan.

"Do you want help, or can manage on your own?" he asked, understanding that if I wanted help that he have to see me topless. I told him that I wanted to try it on my own so he left the room. A few minutes later I heard a knock on the cracked door.

"Can I come in now?" Merle asked and I tossed the extra sheet over my chest, then told him he could. "Told ya you'd be a good mom." He said with a smug smile on his face. I just ignored him and looked back down at the suckling baby.

When Gerdi had was finished Merle left so that I could put my shirt back on. "You can come in now." I called softy and he came back in and sat back down in the chair that he'd claimed as his. He'd been so good through all of this. Keeping me safe, bringing me here to this house, not pushing or insisting I do anything didn't want to do. I hated to admit it, but I was glad he was here. This way Daryl could hear all about it from someone who could describe it to him in a way he would understand, the way he would describe it himself. If it were left up to Lucas to tell him he'd use complicated doctor speech that would go over my head and Daryl's. Lucas would give him the bare minimum.

When Gerdi started fidgeting Lucas stepped up to take her off my hands, but I shook my head. For a tiny thing Gerdi could wear an arm out quickly. That or I was just that tired. So I looked from Lucas to Merle to see that he was staring down at his dirty shoes with a look that told me he was lost in thought. "Merle," I whispered getting his attention. He looked up at me as if he was surprised his name left my lips. "do you… want to hold her?" my question was ended with a yawn that I couldn't hold back.

"You serious?" he asked unbelievingly.

I didn't want to hand the baby over to him, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Merle had done right by me and done everything he could to right his wrong. Even though that wrong could never be righted or even forgotten, it could be moved past. I had to move past it or life would be even more miserable than it already is. "Mm-hmm." I hummed quietly since Gerdi had drifted off into a light slumber. "She is your-" I caught the word that was about to leave my lips and seamlessly added "niece after all."

Merle got up from his comfy chair with a grunt and walked over to look down at the little girl. It was the first close look he had gotten at her. "She looks like Daryl when he was a baby." He admitted and I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was a little disappointed that she didn't look more like him. I smiled at the baby before I looked up at him.

"She looks a little like her Momma too." Lucas piped up from where he stood at the foot of the bed. To be honest I forgot that he was even in the room.

"Right, like you ever saw me when I was a baby." I said with a joking tone.

"I've seen pictures." He defended himself. "She's got your rosy cheeks." He pointed out and I looked down at the pink tinted cheeks of my baby.

I just waved him off before I sat up straighter and moved the sleeping baby away from my torso enough for Merle to be able to slide his arm under mine and take Gerdi without jostling her tiny frame too much. I couldn't help but smile at the small gasp Merle took in at the feel of the baby in his arms. When he finally looked away from the baby it was to look at me with tears threatening to slip from his eyes.

With the baby safe in his arms I felt my eyelids getting heavy. "Get some sleep. We'll take care of her." Lucas said as he and Merle left to give me some space. It wasn't hard for me to fall asleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter one.

 **Father Daughter Duo: The New Duo**

 **Chapter 4** \- Step Three, moving on.

When I woke up it was to the sun shining through the window next to my bed. Humming in the room across the hallway made me crane my neck to see Lucas walk out of it. He glanced up in my direction when he heard me groan as I stretched and came into the room seeing that I was awake. "How are you?" he asked as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

"I'm a little sore in some unpleasant places, but other than that I'm fine." I answered as I turned to the side and placed my feet on the floor. "It's okay if I get up and walk around right?" I asked and he nodded. "Um." I said as I looked around for my pants before I remembered that they were dirty from the day before.

"Here, these should fit you." He moved to a chair where a clean pair of paints and a long sleeved shirt had been thrown. I watched as his long nimble fingers grabbed them and handed them to me. "I'll wait for you out in the hall." He gave me sad smile before he walked out leaving me to it.

I washed up as best I could with the wash rag and bowl of water that was left on the dresser in the room, got dressed then headed to the door. When I placed my hand on the knob I paused. All happiness of last night, meeting my child, seeing Merle holding her…all of it drained from my body as my eyes rested on my wedding rings. I didn't bother to wipe my tears away as I pulled the door open and walked over to Lucas at the end of the hall. He didn't question my tears as I took Gerdi from him. The baby girl was dressed in little pink onesie with, "Sorry boys, I'm not allowed to date." written on the chest.

"Where's Merle?" I asked.

"Down stairs in the living room." He jerked his head at the stairs to my right so I went down.

I found him sitting in a plush recliner sound asleep, but when I stepped on a snack cake wrapper Merle shot straight up in the chair. I had forgotten about how light of a sleeper he was. When he saw that it was just me he got up and walked over to look at Gerdi. "Good, she's sleeping. Kept me up all night." He informed me as he brushed his rough looking finger over her little rosy cheek.

"Sorry." I said feeling bad that I had slept through everything.

"Na, ya needed your sleep." He brushed it off and sat back down in the recliner. I sat down on the matching couch cradling Gerdi to my chest as I did.

Things were quiet before Lucas came down stairs and sat down on the couch next to me. "So, what now?" he asked with a look between us.

"I thought we'd stay here. We've got plenty of water and food. Along with stuff for the baby that Daryl and I thought to stash here." Merle said looking between Lucas and me as he waited for an answer.

"We can't stay here. We have to look for Daryl." I said as I sat up a little too quickly and Gerdi started fussing.

"Bay, I know you want to look for him, but it would be safer if we say here." Lucas said as he sat up straighter to look at us.

"I don't care about safer." I said with a look at Merle, but he avoided my eyes. "I care about finding my husband and the others." I said sternly with a look at Lucas.

"Bay, you just gave birth. You need to rest and let your body recover." Lucas argued.

I turned my head to look at Merle who still avoided my gaze. "Please tell me you want to find your brother." I pleaded with him.

He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face. "Bay, I do, but we need to think about you and the little one right now. Daryl's a big boy. He knows how to take care of himself." Merle said as I hugged the fussing new born to my chest and started pacing.

"And Gerdi isn't even a day old yet, she needs time to build her immune system and get used to being out in the world before we start venturing OUT into the world." Lucas stated factually and I glared at him as I bounced Gerdi who started wailing.

I kept pacing, thinking about what they were telling me. I couldn't go looking for my husband like my instincts were telling me to. Gerdi was still wailing and we all jumped when a walker slammed into the side of the house. "Bay, she can feel how tense you are, you have to calm down or she's not gonna stop crying." Lucas instructed.

I started bouncing her while I walked and made myself focus only on her. As I continued to bounce her the motion became therapeutic for us and we both calmed down. But she was still fussing and wiggling around in my arms. "She's probably hungry" Lucas said as he stood up and looked down at the baby in my arms. "Go feed her." he sighed and jerked his head to the stairs.

But I didn't feel like walking all the way upstairs so I explored the house until I found the downstairs bathroom. Once inside I tried to feed her. It was a struggle at first, but we eventually got the hang of it. I didn't have much to smile about right now, but just looking at Gerdi brightened my day, just a little.

When I walked back into the living room Lucas and Merle both got quiet wouldn't make eye contact with me. "What were y'all talkn' about?" I asked as I walked over to the couch and sat Gerdi down between Lucas and me. She was sleeping peacefully now.

"We decided that we're staying here for a few days. Then we'll go look for Daryl and the others." Lucas said making me look back and forth between him and Merle.

"So I get no say in this?" I asked and they both looked at the floor. "What if I don't want to stay here?"

"Bay, you need to lay low for a bit and let your body recover." Lucas reasoned.

I just glared at him for a while before I laid back to rest my head on the back of the couch. "Fine, I don't have the energy for a fight right now." I sighed.

"Which is exactly why we all need to rest up." Lucas said and I looked at Merle to see if this was really what he wanted and he quickly turned his eyes to the floor, avoiding me.

As time passed, Merle fell asleep in the recliner. His snoring drove Lucas and me upstairs to keep him from waking the baby. We now sat in the bedroom that he had slept in the night before. "Have I thanked you for last night? For keeping your promise to me?" I asked not taking my eyes off of my sleeping baby that lay between us.

"I don't remember, but you're welcome." He replied and when I looked up he was looking down at Gerdi.

As I sat there staring at my little angel I started thinking about every one we had lost. Rick, Carl, Judith… Did they make it out? Michonne, Maggie, Glenn… Did any of them make it out in time? Who all had the governor killed? Did he kill Uncle Seth? Would I ever see any of them again? "Lucas?" I asked getting his attention.

"Yeah, Bay?"

"Did…What happened to Uncle Seth? Do you know for sure that he didn't make it out?" I asked and didn't try to stop the tear that slid down my face.

"I don't know anything for sure. All I know is he was running behind me down the hallway and when I turned around he was gone. I have no idea what happened to him or if he is alive or dead." He said and all I could do was numbly nod. Daryl was missing, Uncle Seth was missing. As far as anyone knew Gerdi was the only blood family I had left.

* * *

"You've been awake all day and you need rest." Lucas said to me where I sat at the kitchen table dosing off about to fall asleep in the plate of squirrel that Merle had cooked on the stove that was thankfully gas powered.

"We can take care of Gerdi, go to bed." Merle chipped in and turned from the counter where he stood eating his dinner to hold out his arms for the awake, but quiet baby. I handed her over to him without a second thought and headed upstairs to the room we were starting to call mine. It didn't take me long to fall asleep that night.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning it was to Gerdi crying in the hallway outside my room. Knowing that Merle or Lucas had her, I went to the window and looked out to see that the sun was straight up in the sky. They had let me sleep till noon. As I stretched I realized that while I wasn't back to being one hundred percent myself, I was feeling a lot better than the day before.

In my head it was time that we get back on the road and look for Daryl and the others. So I went to the closet of my room, pulled the sliding doors open and started searching for a duffel bag or backpack of some kind. Finally I came across a brown corduroy backpack. With that task done I started going through the clothes in the closet. Thankfully this used to be a woman's room and there were plenty of choices that would work for me.

I was headed to the room where the supplies for Gerdi were stored when I ran into Merle. "Hey, what'cha doin' Baby Momma?" he asked as I brushed past him.

"Packing. I'm tired of waiting around for nothing. I feel fine and something's tellin' me it's time to get movin'." I explained as I started shoving in as many bottles, diapers and cans of formula as I could.

"Bay, rest just one more day would ya?" he asked as he followed me.

I ignored him and headed to the stares to find Lucas and Gerdi. "Bay, what are you doing?" Lucas stood up off of the couch with a happy Gerdi in his arms as I put my bag down by the door.

"I'm tired of waiting around for nothing. Daryl doesn't know where we are. So he isn't gonna come to us. So we're gonna go look for him." when I turned around Merle was standing at the base of the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest. "I've figured out that weird baby wrap… sling thing y'all left here, so carrying her won't be a problem." I held my hands out for Gerdi and Lucas took a step back.

"I think you need to stop and think here. You aren't healthy enough for traveling yet." He said as he cradled the tiny baby closer to him.

"Lucas, I'm not messing around here, we're-" I started, but was cut off when we heard two gun shots.

Merle ran to the door and peeked out. "Rick?" he asked himself before he pulled the door open and we all ran out onto the porch. Rick, Michonne and Carl were running down the road, but they were so focused on getting away that they didn't even see us standing there.

"Give me Gerdi." I barked at Lucas and he handed her over, dumb struck.

"I don't know who's in that house, but if officer friendly's runnin' from 'um it ain't good." Merle said while I headed back inside just long enough to grab the bag I packed and tuck Gerdi into the sling that I had around my torso. Once she was safely and snugly in place I headed out of the house with the men not too far behind me.

I had both of my hands on Gerdi, keeping her from bouncing too much as I ran with Merle and Lucas both ahead of me now. Rick, Michonne and Carl were too far ahead of us to even know we were there. So when we were a safe distance away from the house we stopped running and started walking. "We lost them." Lucas said out of breath as he stopped just long enough to take a deep breath and start walking again.

"And Daryl wasn't with them." I said panting more than I was comfortable admitting. Carrying a baby for nine months had really taken a toll on my stamina. While I felt like I was almost give out, Gerdi looked completely unfazed by what had just happened.

"We didn't lose them and we don't know that they don't know where Daryl is." Merle spoke up from where he was walking ahead of Lucas and me. He stopped walking and turned to look at us. "I'm gonna go scout ahead. See if I can catch up with them. If I get too far ahead of y'all, you keep an eye on my girls. If you let anything bad happen to them you ain't gonna like what happens to you." He said to Lucas with a glare before he turned his ice blue eyes on me. He gently grabbed my chin and brushed his thumb over my cheek. Before all if this happened, the touch would have made me want to puke, but now? Now I knew he was the only chance I had at finding Daryl. And well… I kind of saw Merle as the Brother-in-law that he is to me instead of the thing that raped me what felt like forever ago. "In case ya couldn't tell I love ya." He brushed his thumb over my cheek again as I looked him in the eyes. "And Gerdi too." He dropped his hand and cleared his throat with a sideways glace at Lucas who was giving him a glare back.

I watched his bobbing back as he ran ahead of us. But when he got a few yards away he stopped and took a turn in to the woods. We were getting close to where Merle veered off when he popped back out scaring the crap out of me. When I jumped Gerdi started crying. "Merle, ya scared the shit out of me." I scolded, but he ignored me as I hugged Gerdi closer to my chest and started cooing to her. "It's okay, baby. It was just uncle Merle. Everything's okay." I told her as I started bouncing her up and down in her sling. She eventually quieted down.

"They're following the tracks. Just wanted to make sure y'all do too." He said before he waved to us to follow him. We did and when we got through the other side if the wooded area we were looking down at a set of train tracks. "I'm goin ahead again. Y'all stay on the tracks." He said before he took off running again.

Lucas helped me down the steep hill to the tracks then walked ahead of me when we were on flat land. When he was standing between the tracks he stopped and waited for me.

We had been walking for a while, watching Merle get further and further away, before Lucas cleared his throat making me look at him. "I uh, I have a question." He said with furrowed brows, not looking at me.

"Okay…shoot." I said with a glance down at my content baby.

"Has there ever been anything between you and Merle?" his question seemed to come out of nowhere, but I should have seen it coming.

I found myself looking up at him with a shocked look on my face. "No." I sounded as shocked as I looked and he didn't say anything back. But the longer the silence stretched between us the more worried I got. Was he suspecting something? Was he fitting puzzle pieces of my past together? Eventually I asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I can't put my finger on it…but something about the way he acts toward you says that he cares for you as more than a sister-in-law." He explained.

"Well…" I said as I tried to swallow and wet my drying throat. "If he does care about me as more than a sister, then the feelings aren't mutual and never will be."

"Okay." He sighed with a glance over at me. "You do know that you're a crap liar right?"

"Yeah, I know." I said, avoiding his gaze.

"Then you know that I can tell when you're lying to me."

"Look, Lucas, just leave this alone, please." I asked and he just stared over at me as we walked.

"No." I rolled my eyes at his persistence. "I want to know what you're hiding from me."

"No." I argued as I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall. "All I want to do is find Daryl. He and Gerdi are all I can think about right now. So, please, just leave this…leave me, alone." I pleaded while rubbing Gerdi's back, keeping her quiet.

"Fine, I'll leave it alone, for now." he agreed.

"Thank you." I told him grumpily before we started walking in tight silence.

After an hour of walking in excruciating silence we spotted Merle and three other figures in the distance. As they neared, I realized that Judith was nowhere in sight. My heart fell at the thought of the child not having made it out. No words were exchanged at first, just hugs. But then Lucas looked between Rick and Michonne and asked, "Judith?" Rick and Carl shook their heads no.

"Oh, God…" I sighed, "I'm so sorry." I felt like such crap having my baby when Rick didn't have his.

Carl looked like he was going to cry and Rick just waved me off with a sad face that matched his sons. "Merle said you named her after her grandmothers?" Rick asked as he kneeled down to look at Gerdi's face.

"Yep, Kelly after my mother, Gertrude after his." I explained and a small smile graced Rick's face as he stood up.

"We better get moving." Michonne spoke up and we all started walking along the tracks.

"Hey," I spoke up, getting everyone's attention as we walked, "did any of you see Daryl or uncle Seth, or know what happened to them?" I asked, my stomach churning at the thought of bad news.

"No, but if I know Daryl I know he made it out and he's looking for you." Rick spoke up and I remained quiet. "Did you guys see the signs for Terminus?" he asked and we all hummed out no's. "The sign said sanctuary for all, community for all. These tracks will lead us there. If Daryl saw the sighs then there's a good chance he'll be there." he explained. So it was settled, we're heading to Terminus.

After a day of walking the tracks uneventfully we were still more than a day and a half's walk away from Terminus. With the mood the way it was, with everyone being tired, there wasn't much conversation to be hand other than how much food we had left, how much water we had or how Gerdi was doing. But as the hours passed Michonne and Merle or Michonne and Carl would mess around, make stupid little bets, anything to lighten the mood.

Currently as we walked Michonne and Carl were having a contest to see who could walked the rails the longest without falling. I smiled as I glanced behind were Lucas, Merle and I walked to see Michonne pause, shakily trying to stay on as he reached out for Carl who dodged her with a smile and kept walking. "I think we got about a day's worth of water left." Rick spoke up making me look back to here he was walking in front of us. "We're lucky it's cooled off a little bit, but…" he trailed off when he turned around and saw his son and Michonne lingering far behind. "What are you doin'?" he asked and I smiled at him then looked back at them.

"Winning a bet." Carl answered.

"In your dreams." Michonne countered and I looked back to Rick to see his reaction.

Their banter continued as Merle, Lucas and I walked around Rick who had stopped to watch them. "This might go on a while, maybe we can speed this up?" Rick asked and I turned back to see him walking up to them.

"Ease up, Officer Friendly, their just havin' fun." Merle chimed in and I smirked as I stopped walking not wanting to get too far ahead of them.

"Na, he's right." Michonne said as she concentrated on not falling. "We shouldn't be fooling around. We should probably…Carl!" she yelled his name as she lost her balance and fell from the rail.

I just watched with a small smile as Michonne lost her last Big Cat candy bar to Carl. After that we got back to business and pick the pace back up. Merle fell behind Lucas and I to go talk to Michonne, leaving Lucas and I a decent distance from the others. "So," Lucas started quietly and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. His tone told me exactly where he was going with this conversation. "When are you gonna tell me the truth?"

"Lucas…" I sighed, sounding a little winey even to my own ears. "I said leave it alone."

"No, I've been thinking and something else occurred to me." she said and when I looked at him it was to see that he wasn't looking at me, but at the tracks ahead of us. "Back at the prison, when you first told me that you were pregnant you said that the baby wasn't biologically Daryl's and that the father wasn't in the picture."

"Yeah, so?" I asked, not understanding where he was going with this.

"So at the house, after you had Gerdi, Merle said that she looked like Daryl did when he was a baby." I realized now what he was getting at and my throat felt like it was about to close up on me. "How could that baby look like Daryl if it's not his?" I couldn't answer. I just kept walking, not looking at him as I tried to control my breathing. "Bay?" he asked and I still didn't answer him. "Tell me the truth."

"Merle…he uh…" I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell Lucas the truth. If he knew what Merle did to me Merle would have to start all over. He'd have to prove one more time that he isn't that man anymore. "He's the biological father."

"I knew it. You straight up lied to me all this time." Lucas practically yelled at me. "Does Daryl know?" he asked walking around to stand in front of me so I had to stop and talk to him.

"What's goin' on here?" Rick asked as they caught up to us.

I swallowed hard as I looked at Rick and the others. "Just airing out some dirty laundry." I answered receiving a vast array of looks from the group before I turned my eyes back to Lucas. "Of course Daryl knows." I sighed and Lucas scoffed, nodding his head making his black curls bounce. "But it's not what you think."

"Then you might want to explain because from where I'm standing it sounds like you're telling me you had sex with your husband's brother and I'm sorry, but that's not the Bailey that I remember." Lucas would have yelled at me had it not been for the fact that we were out in the middle of nowhere. I looked from Lucas to Rick pleadingly.

"We don't have time for this." Rick tried.

But Lucas held up his hand, cutting him off. "We need to make time, because I don't even know who I'm looking at right now."

I looked from Lucas to Merle. "You don't owe him and explanation." Merle tried and I waved him off.

"Lucas, I got pregnant with Gerdi before I ever even met Daryl. Dad and I were the only ones at the prison when Merle stumbled upon us on our first night there." I started, knowing that whatever else was about to come out of my mouth would be a lie, but I had to do it. I had to find a way to keep the past in the past and burry it once and for all. "We were celebrating finding a safe place to live when dad pulled out a bottle of whiskey. I'd never drank before, never had the chance to get drunk before the turn and with two layers of chain link fence keeping the dead out I figured that if there were ever a safe time to get drunk that night would be it."

"So you got drunk and slept with Merle?" Lucas asked looking like he didn't believe me.

"I was young, Dad was passed out and the world had gone to shit." I explained with a nervous look at Merle before I looked back to Lucas. "I was three sheets to the wind and there was a somewhat attractive guy offering to sleep with me." I said with a shoulder shrug as a tear slipped down my cheek.

"So you took him up on it?" Lucas asked with wide eyes and raised brows.

"I didn't want to die a virgin." I argued before my cheeks flushed and I looked back at Michonne and Carl, the two people who didn't know the truth of my past. When I turned back to Lucas he was just glaring at me. "The conception of my baby meant nothing. I was just one drunken night that I barely remember. And the next morning Merle was gone. Then Rick and his people stumbled upon the prison and they joined us. Daryl and I got close, I knew he was looking for his brother Merle, but I didn't even know Merle's name that night. Then when Merle came back the shit hit the fan, but we moved on. We moved past it. Can you?" I asked, bouncing Gerdi to keep her from fussing.

"No." he answered with a shake of his head before he walked off.

I sighed and let my head fall forward as the others walked past, but Merle stopped to stand beside me. "Hey." He whispered and I looked up into his blue eyes. "He'll come around. Just give him some time." He bumped my shoulder as he started walking.

"Maybe." I said as I walked beside him, lingering behind the others. "But that story I just told him…that's the truth now." He gave me a questioning look. "Regardless of what really happened, what I told him is the truth and the true truth was just a nightmare. Understood?" I asked as I looked up at him again.

"Yes, ma'am." He told me with a nod before we caught up to the group.

Lucas avoided me the rest of the day and when we veered off of the tracks to make camp in the woods he stayed as far away from me as possible. Rick set traps so that we might have food in the morning and while he did that Merle hunted down a rabbit that we cooked over a small fire. It wasn't much, split between six people, but it was something.

Gerdi slept through the night, thank god, but we were woken up at day break by Rick, Michonne and Carl came running up and told us to gather our things and run. I managed to get Gerdi positioned in the sling and grab the back pack before we had to go. We ran along the tracks from the walkers until we came to a town. Rick, Michonne and Merle killed a few walkers ahead of us before we ventured off of the tracks and down one of the towns roads.

We had slowed from a run to a walk when Michonne spoke up. "I thought maybe there's be some houses down this way. Maybe even a store. There's got to be some food around here somewhere."

We were walking over a hill in the road when we came upon a blue broken down suv. Gerdi had been quietly chewing on her fist as we walked, but after I examined the suv to see that there were not walkers inside then sat down on the soft back seat, she started crying. "You haven't fed her all day, she's hungry." Lucas chimed in flatly.

"Ya think I don't know that." I snapped at him before I pulled the car door shut and used it's dusty windows to keep myself concealed as I fed my child. Over the time I'd had her, I started to learn her mannerisms. When she chewed on her fist it meant she was hungry. When she grunted and squirmed it meant she needed to be changed. It wasn't hard to figure out, yet Lucas still felt the need to tell me what my child wanted when she wanted it. Frankly he was getting on my nerves.

After I was done feeding Gerdi it was decided that we could use a day of rest and that we would stay here at the car. So Merle went hunting again and Rick set up snares. But by the end of the day, each of them had only killed one animal, a squirrel and a rabbit. It wasn't much split six ways, but it was something. "You should take her and get some sleep." Merle suggested after I yawned. So I nodded and crawled into the back seat of the suv and laid down, with Gerdi between me and the back of the seat so that she wouldn't fall. A few seconds later Carl crawled into the front passenger seat and went to sleep.

I had just slipped into the pre stages of sleep when I hear something smack the car. I jumped and looked at the front passenger window to see a guy looking in with his hands pressed to the glass. He had a knife in one hand and a smile on his face. I used my body to hide the awake, but quiet Gerdi from his creepy gaze. "Shit, and I was thinking of turning on for the night on new year's eve." I heard someone say outside the car and I turned my eyes to the front windshield to see a guy holding a gun to Ricks head, another to Michonne's and two other guys standing across from them holding a gun on them. "Who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh?" the guy I'd heard before, the guy holding a gun on Rick, asked the other. "Ten Mississippi, nine Mississippi, Eight Mississippi." The guy started counting down to shooting Rick for whatever reason.

"Joe!" I recognized the voice that hit my ears as soon as I heard it. I craned my neck to look out of the driver's side window behind me to see Daryl walking around to the front of the vehicle. I wanted to call out to him, to let him know I'm here, he found me, but I didn't want to wake up Gerdi and alert the rest of the men to our presence. I didn't want to find out what would happen to Gerdi if they found her. "Hold up." he told the guy who was holding a gun on Rick, who was apparently named Joe.

"You're stopping me on eight, Daryl." Joe said sounding aggravated.

"Just hold up." Daryl said, stepping into the circle of people.

"This is the guy who killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about." A guy wearing a leather jacket holding a shotgun said.

"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time." Joe spoke up. "Say your piece, Daryl."

"These people, you're gonna let them go." Daryl said and it was nice just hearing his voice again, after thinking he could possibly be dead. "These are good people."

"Now I think Lou would disagree with you on that." Joe argued. "I'll of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause your friend here strangled him in a bathroom."

"You want blood. I get it." Daryl said as he tossed down his bow and held his arms out to his sides. It didn't hit me that he would sacrifice himself to save Rick and the others until he said, "Take it from me, man. Come on." I wanted to scream out at him, tell him to stop, but I couldn't.

"This man killed our friend." Joe said. "You say he's good people. See, now, that right there is a lie." Joe said and Daryl sighed. "It's a lie!" Joe yelled and the two men closed in on him and started beating him.

"No!" I screamed, no longer able to hold myself back as I watched the men beat Daryl.

"Teach him fella's, teach him all the way." Joe urged as they beat Daryl.

"Daryl!" I cried out and Gerdi, sensing my discomfort started fussing. As the guys beat Daryl his face slammed into the window behind me and we made eye contact. But I had to turn away from him when the guy that had his face pressed to the glass opened the door and took Carl out as a guy in a blue bandana reached for me. I scooped Gerdi up as he pulled us out of the car and shoved me to where Rick, Michonne, Lucas, Merle and Michonne where lined up on their knees at gunpoint.

Gerdi started fussing, so instead of paying attention to Carl, who was being held with a knife at his throat, Daryl, getting the shit beat out of him, or Rick pleading for the men to leave the rest of us alone, I focused only on Gerdi. I focused on keeping her calm and quiet. But no amount of focus could keep Joe's words from reaching my ears. "First we're gonna beat Daryl to death. Then we're gonna shoot the baby then the two guys. And then we'll have the girls. Then the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square."

I felt like throwing up as the words sank in, but I made myself focus solely on Gerdi and keeping her safe. I was chanting quietly to her when I felt a hand slide into mine. But I jumped and let go of his hand when I heard a gunshot go off in Rick and Joe's direction. From there, things escalated quickly. And when I looked around me Lucas was just sitting there while Michonne fought the guy in the bandana and Rick fought Joe. Merle stood up and pulled me up with him. "Lock yourself in the car and don't come out for anything." He told me and I did as told before he headed over to where the creepy guy was straddling a crying Carl. As I shut the door Gerdi started crying and I did what I could to quiet her as I watched the mess going on around me. Merle was beating the guy that has attempted to rape Carl while Michonne fought the guy in the bandana. But my heart stopped when I saw Rick bite a chunk out of Joe's neck and spit it to the ground. I think everyone else's did too considering that for a full second it was completely silent.

Then Michonne turned bandana guys gun on him and shot him in the head then turned the gun on the guy that Merle was still beating. "Merle!" Rick yelled, "He's mine." Merle gave the guy a push in Rick direction then ran over and helped Daryl take down the two guys that had been beating him. But I couldn't take my eyes off of Rick repeatedly stabbing the guy that tried to take Carl. A knock on the door behind me pulled my eyes from the disturbing sight to see Daryl staring at me. I quickly unlocked the door and he pulled it open.

With Gerdi still in my arms I scrambled out of the car and threw myself into his arms that hugged me tighter than ever before as we sobbed on each other's shoulders for a few minutes. When he let me go it was only to pull me back enough to see the little girl in my arms. He started to touch her before he realized how filthy his hands were. "Are you okay?" he asked not looking up from his daughter.

"I am now." under any other circumstances I would have smiled, but as it was I was still in shock. "Come on." I told him with a jerk of my head as I walked to the back of the car and pulled the hatchback open. I crawled inside and sat down and Daryl followed, shutting the door behind him. "Here." I used my free hand to wet a t-shirt that was laying around and handed it to him. He wiped the blood and grime off of his hands then I passed him the awake, but quiet baby. He looked so tense and scared as he cradled her in his arms and I didn't understand why. It wasn't like he'd never held a baby before. He'd held Judith plenty and he was never this tense and careful with her. "You're not going to break her." I encouraged.

"I know, but…what if I do?" he asked and I couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"If I haven't then you won't either." I told him quietly as I moved to sit beside him with my back against the back seat.

"You name her yet?" he asked looking up from his daughter to me.

"Yeah, Kelly Gertrude Dixon." I told him and he beamed at me. "I've been calling her Gerdi." It fell silent for a while as we both just looked between the other and the baby. "I thought I'd lost you forever." I admitted with a whisper.

"Yeah, me too." He said gruffly before he leaned to the side and pressed his lips to mine. When the kiss broke another wave of tears exploded from me and I wrapped my arms around his stomach holding onto him like a boa constrictor. He wrapped the arm that wasn't holding Gerdi around my shoulders and rested his head on mine. "I love you."

"I love you too." I told him back shakily.

Then the back hatch was pulled open and Merle climbed inside. "Didn't forget about me there did ya little brother?" he asked as he sat down and leaned against the hatch across from me.

"Thank you." Daryl told him with a nod and Merle just nodded back.

Tonight was a bad night. Five men had died, but none of them meant anything to me and none of the people I cared about had died. The one person I loved more than anything had come back to me. I still had my family. So while tonight sucked there was a silver lining.


End file.
